Procrastination: What Is Wrong With Me?

I

IVCguy

Well-known member
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
 
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
Is it just this one thing you procrastinate? Without knowing your answer, I would guess the two years you have to get the CE in makes it easy for you to push the requirement off. Patting myself on the back, the last two years, I have done my CE in January to get it behind me. Working part-time now helps.
 
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IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
I've acquired numerous tips for dealing with procrastination. I'll tell you about them later.
 
EagleGuy said:
Is it just this one thing you procrastinate? Without knowing your answer, I would guess the two years you have to get the CE in makes it easy for you to push the requirement off. Patting myself on the back, the last two years, I have done my CE in January to get it behind me. Working part-time now helps.
Click to expand...
It's not one thing.

First I will give you how I explain it with a narrative and then I will give you what the full truth is.

I am a busy, busy guy. I have a business and I work part-time for someone else. I invest time in my wife, children, and grandchildren. I am the primary caretaker of my increasingly senile mother who is making increasing demands on my time. I am active in my church and various meetings related to that. I have several close friends that I spend time on. My wife and I do volunteer pre-marital counseling, some martial counselling (shoot me in the head), and I volunteer in the Juvenile Court. Etc., blah, yada. So, I look at my schedule and organize my life around "what is it that absolutely has to be done today" - and if something doesn't meet that threshold, it doesn't get on the agenda.

The full truth is that I am a sanguine personality - a seal, yellow, or the other ways the four personalities are described. As such, I want to be with people, laugh, and do things that are fun. I will fulfill all my immediate and urgent responsibilities, and I can focus and do those well, but I do them so that I can get to my free/down time where I relax, do something I enjoy (watching sports, read, among other things), or be with people socially where I am not obligated to perform a professional or volunteer service.

It will be very easy for me over the next 2 years to not prioritize my CE requirements because I can always find something else that I need to do or want to do. So, I suspect that 2 years from now, I will be finishing up my last CE hour and will have started on them sometime around the Ides of March. Lol.
 
IVCguy said:
It's not one thing.

First I will give you how I explain it with a narrative and then I will give you what the full truth is.

I am a busy, busy guy. I have a business and I work part-time for someone else. I invest time in my wife, children, and grandchildren. I am the primary caretaker of my increasingly senile mother who is making increasing demands on my time. I am active in my church and various meetings related to that. I have several close friends that I spend time on. My wife and I do volunteer pre-marital counseling, some martial counselling (shoot me in the head), and I volunteer in the Juvenile Court. Etc., blah, yada. So, I look at my schedule and organize my life around "what is it that absolutely has to be done today" - and if something doesn't meet that threshold, it doesn't get on the agenda.

The full truth is that I am a sanguine personality - a seal, yellow, or the other ways the four personalities are described. As such, I want to be with people, laugh, and do things that are fun. I will fulfill all my immediate and urgent responsibilities, and I can focus and do those well, but I do them so that I can get to my free/down time where I relax, do something I enjoy (watching sports, read, among other things), or be with people socially where I am not obligated to perform a professional or volunteer service.

It will be very easy for me over the next 2 years to not prioritize my CE requirements because I can always find something else that I need to do or want to do. So, I suspect that 2 years from now, I will be finishing up my last CE hour and will have started on them sometime around the Ides of March. Lol.
Click to expand...
I don't think you are unusual. Maybe creating a reward for yourself - something you would not do otherwise - each time you complete a portion of your CE work. Or, thinking of CE as a part-time job (not that you need something else to do) and attaching a pay per CE credit value to it. I look at exercise this way and often wonder how much I am saving (making) in doctor bills by biking, walking, etc. $15 per hour seems to be a popular asking rate today!
 
eastisbest said:
Having to renew every two years seems like a lot of bureaucracy.
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Government, right?

I actually enjoy doing the CE when I get to it. I do not learn very much. Out of the 36 hours I can usually find 2 or 3 new things that I learned. The rest of it is going over what I already know, and some of it is going over things that I have been exposed to before, but didn't remember because it has no practical application to what I do. But its good to be refreshed on most of it and learn a couple of things.

The state has an interest in assuring that professional licensees are keeping up with the latest knowledge in their field. The job of state boards is to protect the public and try to ensure that those holding a license are up to date and proficient.

If it were up to me, I would want them to require 18 hours on the newest research that applies to the profession they are regulating. But, it is what it is.
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
I'll get around to telling.... I promise.
 
IVCguy said:
Government, right?

I actually enjoy doing the CE when I get to it. I do not learn very much. Out of the 36 hours I can usually find 2 or 3 new things that I learned. The rest of it is going over what I already know, and some of it is going over things that I have been exposed to before, but didn't remember because it has no practical application to what I do. But its good to be refreshed on most of it and learn a couple of things.

The state has an interest in assuring that professional licensees are keeping up with the latest knowledge in their field. The job of state boards is to protect the public and try to ensure that those holding a license are up to date and proficient.

If it were up to me, I would want them to require 18 hours on the newest research that applies to the profession they are regulating. But, it is what it is.
Click to expand...

I think if someone were to put in the effort to find out why the frequency of CE it would have less to do with keeping up, safety... and more to do with whose friends make money supplying CE. I'll get right on that and let you know what I find out.
 
IVCguy said:
Government, right?

I actually enjoy doing the CE when I get to it. I do not learn very much. Out of the 36 hours I can usually find 2 or 3 new things that I learned. The rest of it is going over what I already know, and some of it is going over things that I have been exposed to before, but didn't remember because it has no practical application to what I do. But its good to be refreshed on most of it and learn a couple of things.
Click to expand...

Yes and yes. After retiring from govt, I'm having to do the same mandatory training courses as a contractor. I get an email that says it's time to complete, and I will keep putting it off until my Internet access is taken away and I have to complete the course to get it back.

I'm sure I do have a mental hang-up about getting started, but the only way to get through it is to actually get started. Oh well.
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
Adderall.
 
IVCguy said:
It's not one thing.

First I will give you how I explain it with a narrative and then I will give you what the full truth is.

I am a busy, busy guy. I have a business and I work part-time for someone else. I invest time in my wife, children, and grandchildren. I am the primary caretaker of my increasingly senile mother who is making increasing demands on my time. I am active in my church and various meetings related to that. I have several close friends that I spend time on. My wife and I do volunteer pre-marital counseling, some martial counselling (shoot me in the head), and I volunteer in the Juvenile Court. Etc., blah, yada. So, I look at my schedule and organize my life around "what is it that absolutely has to be done today" - and if something doesn't meet that threshold, it doesn't get on the agenda.

The full truth is that I am a sanguine personality - a seal, yellow, or the other ways the four personalities are described. As such, I want to be with people, laugh, and do things that are fun. I will fulfill all my immediate and urgent responsibilities, and I can focus and do those well, but I do them so that I can get to my free/down time where I relax, do something I enjoy (watching sports, read, among other things), or be with people socially where I am not obligated to perform a professional or volunteer service.

It will be very easy for me over the next 2 years to not prioritize my CE requirements because I can always find something else that I need to do or want to do. So, I suspect that 2 years from now, I will be finishing up my last CE hour and will have started on them sometime around the Ides of March. Lol.
Click to expand...

You need a puppy.
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
Question. What happens if you miss your deadline? Is there a grace period? Late fees? Can you apply for an extension?
I have 24 hours CE to complete in the same 2 year window. I procrastinate on too many things, but I'm very punctual on my license. Probably because I like my paychecks and despise late fees. I also have a national certification at my job that's 100 hours CE every 4 years. I get cracking on that the millisecond my certification is renewed
So I guess my advice if you want motivation to stop procrastinating is let it expire and suffer the consequences. That'll snap you out of it for the next time
 
nupanther said:
Question. What happens if you miss your deadline? Is there a grace period? Late fees? Can you apply for an extension?
I have 24 hours CE to complete in the same 2 year window. I procrastinate on too many things, but I'm very punctual on my license. Probably because I like my paychecks and despise late fees. I also have a national certification at my job that's 100 hours CE every 4 years. I get cracking on that the millisecond my certification is renewed
So I guess my advice if you want motivation to stop procrastinating is let it expire and suffer the consequences. That'll snap you out of it for the next time
Click to expand...
Now that's a novel approach!

I believe if you miss the deadline, there is no grace period or extension, your license lapses, you cannot practice your profession, and there are fines and other discipline to regain your license. So, no one would want to go that route.

I suspect that there are personalities that are prone to procrastination, but other things that may or may not be related to personality like self-discipline, time mgt, fear of consequences, a dislike or comfort with obligations hanging out there, needing the stress of an approaching deadline as a motivation, etc. FWIW

But I wish I had whatever it is that causes people to get right on something that doesn't absolutely need done for 2 years!
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
LOL

I do the same thing. Maybe tie CE to another weekly activity ? Like, if you play in rec basketball league on Tuesdays, or go to the gym every Thursday, make yourself knock out an hour or two after ?

I do figure taxes ASAP, but typically pay state last minute while claiming a Fed refund immediately.
 
IVCguy said:
I have a professional license in Ohio that I have to renew on a 2-year basis.

In this cycle, I had between April 1, 2020 til tonight at midnight to complete 36 hours of continuing education and pay my license renewal fee.

Every cycle I do the same thing. After renewing my license, I vow to myself that I am going to do some CE hours every few months during the next 2 years - but every single cycle I end up doing it in March, usually the last few weeks of March.

I started doing my CE hours on March 15, 2022 this time and completed my last hour this morning.

I always get in done, but it would be a lot less disruptive and stressful if I would not do it all in a few weeks.

The fact that I do this indicates something, probably negative, in my personality. Tell me what it is.

Any suggestions to correct it are welcome. Be kind. Lol.
Click to expand...
i get back to you on Monday on this
 
Any one that needs lessons on how to procrastinate my wife is willing to give them but you probably have to wait until she gets in the mood some time in the future. She is really bad and admits it.
 
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